Self Defense in The UK
- Thread starter Gibbo3771
- Start date
Anything is illegal if you are carrying it with the purpose of using it as a weapon.
[FnG]magnolia;24264912 said:
No no no, god no. I am 5ft10 and weigh 210lb's. If I want to **** someone up, I put my fist through there face.
I am mainly speaking out for people that might not have the power/strength to fight off an attacker, my gf for example is 5ft4, quite small and was attacked like I said.
If she had been brought up around laws that don't class every object that is sharp or has a heavy blunt force, she might have had some sort of legal weapon for self defense, that she has been taught to use and respect.
and if small women regularly carried legal weapons for self defence, the criminals would be carrying guns to rob them with. thats the big dilemma.
the best self defence is situational awareness and common sense.
That is not really self defense now is it, however you raise a valid point that having both of these can lower the chance.
But you never know what is around the corner, my gf was jumped walking the same route she walked everyday for over a year, with a main road just next to her, in the middle of the day.
Obviously walking into a dark alley on a saturday night, pished out your nut, is stupid.
lol n1n1n1
Well it is. Its just preemptive.
Although if she was jumped, its unlikely she would have had the time or opportunity to take a tazer out of her bag and use it before he opened her with the stanley. So even if she were armed, co-operation probably would have been the best choice in that situastion.
I hate that argument of 'well if you carry something for self defence then the criminals will carry a more lethal weapon'
No, attackers/muggers like that will go after the easiest target, they don't want someone who'll put up a fight. It's like saying 'don't lock your front door, burglars will just smash it down'.
It's such a passive, roll over and take it up the *** mentality. We should be able to make it as difficult and awkward as possible for these criminals.
No, attackers/muggers like that will go after the easiest target, they don't want someone who'll put up a fight. It's like saying 'don't lock your front door, burglars will just smash it down'.
It's such a passive, roll over and take it up the *** mentality. We should be able to make it as difficult and awkward as possible for these criminals.
and how exactly would a mugger have known she had a tazer in her handbag, for example? unless you want to go all out and have open carry of weapons, that argument doesnt hold water.
I'll use your girlfriend as an example, since you've done so several times.
Imagine that the law has changed to make it legal to carry weapons around in the streets.
So your girlfriend, who is presumably a decent person who doesn't enjoy being violent and doesn't have extensive experience of using violence on people, is walking down the street with a taser in her bag. She's hardly likely to carry it in her hand all the time - that would be highly impractical and wouldn't suit her anyway.
A thug who does enjoy being violent and who does have extensive experience of using violence on people has a taser in their hand and attacks your girlfriend.
Your girlfriend will be tasered by the thug, not the other way around.
The situation would be even worse with other weapons because even if she could somehow summon her weapon to her hand fast enough (which she wouldn't be able to do), your girlfriend would almost certainly be slower to use it than the thug would be to use their weapon. Decent people are more reluctant to injure and possibly kill people than thugs who deliberately set out to do exactly that.
If there is a simple answer, I don't know what it is. Carrying weapons isn't it.
Imagine that the law has changed to make it legal to carry weapons around in the streets.
So your girlfriend, who is presumably a decent person who doesn't enjoy being violent and doesn't have extensive experience of using violence on people, is walking down the street with a taser in her bag. She's hardly likely to carry it in her hand all the time - that would be highly impractical and wouldn't suit her anyway.
A thug who does enjoy being violent and who does have extensive experience of using violence on people has a taser in their hand and attacks your girlfriend.
Your girlfriend will be tasered by the thug, not the other way around.
The situation would be even worse with other weapons because even if she could somehow summon her weapon to her hand fast enough (which she wouldn't be able to do), your girlfriend would almost certainly be slower to use it than the thug would be to use their weapon. Decent people are more reluctant to injure and possibly kill people than thugs who deliberately set out to do exactly that.
If there is a simple answer, I don't know what it is. Carrying weapons isn't it.
Sorry, using the word jumped is not really appropriate, she was confronted by an person armed with a stanley blade, she was asked to hand over her phone and purse, where do those get kept...? Right next to the tazer
Sorry, using the word jumped is not really appropriate, she was confronted by an person armed with a stanley blade, she was asked to hand over her phone and purse, where do those get kept...? Right next to the tazer
So he had the blade in his hand when he demanded her purse and phone? Do you really think she could have pulled it out right under his eyes and used it before he slashed at her? I wouldnt take the chance with my girlfriend....especially not having seen how many people can take tazer hits without going down.
Valid arguement, like I have said, legalizing a weapon also puts it in the hands of the criminals.
However several things can be put into place to prevent the sale of such items without a license or certificate of training, tazers can be tagged and registered to the person who purchased it, however much like in the US, where you can buy a gun illegally that has the numbers removed from it, making it untraceable.
Sorry, using the word jumped is not really appropriate, she was confronted by an person armed with a stanley blade, she was asked to hand over her phone and purse, where do those get kept...? Right next to the tazer
That's a scenario in which it would seem that widespread use of tazers would be a good idea, but from the attackers point of view the best thing to do in such a scenario would be to tazer their victim first and take the phone and purse from them while they're down.
Taking the chance, risky stuff. I agree it is dependable on the situation.
It's not really about do I think she could have pulled it out in time, I am not talking about someones ability to use or respond in these situations.
I am merely talking about the lack of options for self defense, lack of choices you can make.
In her situation she had 2, hand over the items, attempt to run.
Having some sort of self defense weapon like a taser or pepper spray you have more options to respond, you can still run, you can still hand over the items but now you have the choice to intimidate the attacker by showing him you have one of the above, or use it, or both.
Also just to note, you get a ton of taser types. You can get ones that are shaped like frickin' tampons and deliver 50,000 volts lol.
If the attacker had a taser yes, jumping to statistics here most of the knife crime in Scotland itself is mainly carrying, the actual use of the knife for wounding someone is significantly lower, dropping by 25% or so since 2008, to a mere 6% of all deaths.
These people that rob people at knife point are not using the knife as a weapon, they mainly use it as a way of putting the fear in the person, it becomes a weapon when the attacker panics or something does no go to plan.
Baring in mind most knife crime is not committed by hardened criminals, it is mainly junkies and kids.
What I am getting at is, most criminals use things like knifes/guns etc etc to scare the person, not hurt them. If you happen to come across that one psycho that stabs you 43 times with a pencil THEN takes your wallet, you are damn unlucky.
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Well personally I much prefer our system to that of the US. Call me a victim if you want but id much rather not have muggers arm themselves with guns..and id much rather have muggers who dont shoot/stab first just in case im carrying a weapon for self defence.
Although I havent personally been mugged so maybe that is colouring my opinion.
I also dont trust the general public. If its legal for someone to carry weapons for self defence, 'self defence' itself takes on a whole new meaning. Any argument may well lead to someone 'defending' themselves. People tend to be overzealous a lot of the time. If weapons are available, people will be more willing to use them.
6% of all murders are knife murders? Or do you mean 6% of all deaths are knife crimes? If the latter, i dont agree that 6% can be referred to as 'mere'.
and junkies and kids are some of the most dangerous people around. at least hardened criminals have a full understanding of what they are doing, unlike junkies and kids
